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July 2, 2010

Day Four in Bergen

Another lovely day here in Norway. We've now had two days of rain, followed by (nearly) two days of sun.

I spent some more time today communing with my Troldsalen Steinway friend and I feel we're on the same page now. This piano really does like to play Ravel, and of course Grieg. A strange thing happened as I was playing the Holberg Suite Sarabande, a piece I have played hundreds of times: as soon as I began playing, I could hear Norwegian-type text within the melodic line. Not necessarily exact text with definite meaning, but just the general sound of Norwegian. The rhythms and the rise and fall of the intonation of the language that have started to get in my ear were present in the rhythms and the rise and fall of Grieg's melody! It was a revelation to me, and something I will certainly give more reflection.

I also got a chance to see the exhibits in the Grieg Museum. Some of the things that fascinated me: the suit Grieg wore for performing, alongside Nina's performance dress on lifesize (tiny!) mannequins; a photo of Grieg at age 11 which I had never seen before; his huge traveling trunk (& I thought I had overweight luggage!); a European map marked with every bit of traveling he ever did (tons!) and an interesting timeline relating "Grieg events" to world events.

I took a small lunch at the Troldhaugen cafe: best shrimp salad sandwich ever, out on a lovely patio overlooking the grounds and the fjord. Also, I got a chance to see the administrative offices and meet some of the others that work there. Wonderful helpful people.